Pumping water

The centre of Carlisle was quiet this afternoon - quite subdued. And there was only one topic of conversation. However, there seems to be a real community spirit, friends and neighbours helping out with the long task of clearing up in the areas affected.

This photograph was taken at the part of Carlisle centre that was underwater a day or two ago. The building to the right is the Civic Centre, which at one point was surrounded by water. At the moment they are pumping water out of the basement - at a rate of 7,000 gallons a minute - and this has been going on for a long time!  The water is being pumped through the underpass, it is then sucked up by another machine and put back into the river.
   
Of course there are those who would have been quite happy for the building to be condemned. It is not liked by everyone. In fact, not long ago it was on a list of the least favourite buildings in Britain. Here is a picture of it taken when I was searching out the plaques built into the flood defences, erected after the 2005 floods, the same defences that were topped by these last floods. I commented then that this area had been underwater in 2005 - ten years later it was underwater again.